Starbound: Birthday of Destiny
by McKnight
Summary: Rokuna is about to turn eighteen, and not a day too soon. Chapter 1 of Starbound, shown through her perspective.


**Opening notes: **In case anyone's wondering about the main fic that this one pertains to, I did not label it a crossover. This one has been marked as such, because it focuses primarily on three characters from Mon Colle Knights, but the main fic is marked exclusively as a Lucky Star fic because it focuses on all the protagonists equally and only features said three from MCK.

Originally, I didn't have any real intention of establishing the actual events of Rokuna's situation when she gets her hair updone, nor for any future characters who will join her and her friends. I was advised to write something primarily about Rokuna, though, after having thought up a few friends for her, which I did mainly to keep the Magé Stones a mystery as to how they each choose a host.

Incidentally, since the main fic will co-star a total of six original characters alongside the franchise's main four, it would only be fair that each OC have some kind of background events, acquaintances, etc. established for them, stuff which the main four already have as far back as mid-11th grade. I mean, it _is _easy enough to refer to people or events already established by canon when dealing w/ canon characters, but such for OCs would normally have to be built either around the plot or for its own sake.

**Edited 4/27/14: **For those of you who may have read this before and are wondering what happened to Mondo, the real question would be about why I didn't use Rokuna's canon boyfriend, Mondo, in the first place. Originally, I set things up so that Rokuna would've broken up with him years prior to the anime. My reasoning was that if he were still around, Rokuna would probably feel obliged to bring him with her and her friends, and I also wanted Starbound itself to be as little of an actual crossover as possible. My friend Jake talked me into incorporating him, and even my other friend, Yincira, agreed that neither of those arguments hold water much.

**Special thanks to: **Yincira (a.k.a. Yiuokami), for beta-reading and critiquing this, and for helping me plan it out. Also to my friend Jake, for critiquing it when it was half-finished.

**Disclaimer: **Lucky Star is property of Kagami Yoshimizu, Yutaka Yamamoto, Kyoto Animation, and Bandai Entertainment. Mondo Ooya and Rokuna and Ichirobei Hiiragi are property of Group SNE.

* * *

"Match 6! Hiiragi, step up!" commanded Instructor Yukiharu Shigeno of the Kuki Hokuyo High School Kendo Club. The girl came forward with her shinai, brown curls bouncing a bit from her quick step.

"Ooya, step up!" commanded the instructor, and a boy came from the other side. This boy was none other than her very boyfriend, Mondo Ooya, since childhood.

"Get ready," the instructor ordered. Staring at each other, the two of them could hardly hold back their emotions; Mondo had a neat grin on his face, while Rockna's eyes seemed to smile, even if she wasn't.

"Fight!"

With a swing, Mondo took the lead, only for Rokuna to parry it neatly. Both partners stared at each other, trying to read the next move. Before long, Mondo swung hard with his shinai, forcing Rokuna's backwards as she tried to parry again; although she wasn't touched, the impact had forced her to take a step back. For an instant, it looked like they were returning to their neutral stances, but the brown-haired girl had switched to a full defensive stance, allowing her to defend herself more easily. Mondo swung again and again, but his eyes were also on her feet, and it took her little time to prepare her counterattack.

With a full step forward, she swung hard as well, only for him to deftly move around her and strike a blow upside her head. She was forced off-balance even as he took his first point, but managed to block his next attack with a back-handed grip, and turned it into a new swing. Their teeth were gritted as he sidestepped her attack, and she had to step to the side when he swung down and low, maybe too low. Although he seemed to be vulnerable, as soon as she tried a vertical strike of her own, Rokuna barely saw him move out of his stance and already trying to strike her in the head again. Her shinai was held high in an attempt to block it off, but Mondo suddenly retreated, surprising her enough; the swing instead came low, hitting her right in the torso and throwing her down.

"Two points, Rokuna_-chan_," he said, his tone too harsh; it wasn't that he was being mean so much as _competitive_, but even then, it was more than enough for her temper to flare. With a quick step, she nearly struck him right in the right lung, but he had kept his eyes on her the whole time; not only did he move around her again, but he slammed the sword right against her face. Had she not wore a mask, she would be tasting splinters right now, much to her displeasure. "And now three."

She could hear the crowd around them. Too many of the other students were already betting on Mondo's victory, which bothered her more than enough already. She returned to a defensive stance, grumbling somewhat. When the boy tried to swing, she prepared to counter it, but he had quickly retreated and taken a defensive stance. "So, you're learning from me?" she teased him, and he snorted a bit, just before going into offense. His blows were either blocked or parried, however, and as Rokuna took her step forward, he adjusted his grip to go on offense again - only for her to adjust her grip, pushing the blade against his chest before he could touch her. "One point for me."

"Smart." As he admitted that, Rokuna blushed, even as they both retreated back into their default stances. She was the first one to attack this time, the boy ducking past her swing, before she pulled down hard, but not enough to stop his own movement. Both shinai struck each other at the same time, Mondo wincing as his left arm was aching, protected or not, while Rokuna could feel the tip pressing against her neck. "But is it enough?"

As they both prepared for the next move, Rokuna focused on countering his next swing, but she had not expected Mondo to put _all_ his strength in it; her shinai flew away, hitting the ground near one of the more annoying students, and she suddenly felt the edge pressing against her left breast and pushing her to the ground.

"Five points, Rokuna-chan," Mondo said, before playfully swinging it to his arm. While their instructor declared the match over, he helped her up. The two of them bowed to each other, smiling despite the harsh battle.

* * *

"Betcha're excited to be turning eighteen, huh?" said Mondo, sitting side-by-side with Rokuna by the wall.

"You can say that again!" she squealed.

"So which one are you gonna choose?"

"That's a secret," she said with a wink.

"Alright, then. So, why exactly were you chosen by those things anyway?"

"They actually had something to do with my great grandparents. My great grandmother was chosen by one of them and started having visions of some sort. There were four more, and so her husband started keeping a diary about it."

"Guess that makes sense."

"This is exactly why I joined kendo in the first place. Personally, I would've rather done something like cooking, art, or ballet. Dad even gave me a choice, but since we're the only ones with access to the stones and the diary, the world's future really depends on us."

"I still don't get it all. It all sounds so big. The fate of the world, chosen ones..." He hooked his fingers over his head, stretching his arms. "Are you really okay with this?"

"Better than okay! Don't worry about me, I may have given up some things but I get so much more in return."

* * *

"Rokuna," said the girl's father, Ichirobei, after she had come home and showered. Various ingredients were lined along the kitchen counter. "You're baking your own cake?"

"Of course I am," said the girl. "You know how much I love cooking, don'cha?"

"But your cooking's awful," said the man. "You wouldn't want to embarrass yourself on your own birthday, would you?"

"Oh c'mon, Daddy. At least this doesn't include garlic. Besides, you're not exactly the best cook I know."

"Don't you remember that cake we had two years ago? None of us could eat more than one slice of it, if even that."

"Well, that's true. But last year, you bought one from the grocery store, and it didn't feel so special. Don't tell me you plan on doing that again."

"Actually, this year, I've asked your friend Chitose to make one."

A moment of silence passed as the girl took that line in.

"Wait! You asked one of my friends to bake something!?"

"Well, she's also into cooking, isn't she?"

"Dad! Do you have any tact at all?"

"Don't worry, Rokuna. I thoroughly plan on repaying the favor to her."

"Well, that's good to know, at least. So, what did you ask her to make?"

"That's a secret."

* * *

The following day proceeded mostly as normal. None of Rokuna's friends met her at the school entrance. Even during lunch, they were nowhere to be found. Mondo didn't attend kendo that afternoon. The chocolate-haired girl wasn't the least bit upset, though. She knew actually what was going on.

* * *

Back at home, the house was decorated with banners, paper chains, and strings of all different paper flags. There were also balloons tied to different pieces of furniture.

"SURPRISE!" shouted Rokuna's friends, complete with bursts of confetti from above, as she entered the elaborately decorated house. She wasn't the least bit startled.

"Hey, everyone! Did you guys really expect me to think you all forgot my birthday?"

"You mean you actually knew what we were planning?" asked a girl with long, emerald-green hair done into twin braids; this girl was Rin.

"Of course I did. Seriously, how many times has _that_ been done before?"

"That's actually a good point," said another girl, whose equally long hair was turquoise and done into thick pigtails stemming from the sides of her head; her name was Junko.

"You must be all tired and sweaty from kendo," said their remaining friend, a girl with free-flowing orange hair reaching down to her ankles; Chitose. "Why don't you go bathe before we celebrate your birthday."

"Don't mind if I do," said Rokuna as she walked to the bathroom.

Rin was the first to speak after they heard the bathroom door slide shut.

"Say, you think she'll let us choose one of those things and come along with her?" she asked.

"Why wouldn't she?" replied the bluenette, Junko. "We are her friends after all. Besides, didn't she say that someone can only have one of them?"

"I don't think she'd have any reason to hog stuff from us that she'd have no real use for," added the orange-haired girl, Chitose.

"In that case, let's make a list of places to go," said Mondo.

"It's not a vacation," said Rin. "It's a journey. We'll probably have a path set up for us already."

"Besides, I believe she said that she actually might not end up going on it after all," said Chitose.

"Say what!?" said Mondo.

"Wait a minute," said Junko. "If she doesn't go on an adventure, then why are all of us making such a big deal over this?"

"Hmm. Guess we'll have to ask her," said Rin.

* * *

As she lay in the bathtub, Rokuna had completely lost herself in thought. Was she really destined for adventure? Where would her journey take her? What kinds of friends would she and her already close friends make? What would they be capable of? What kinds of things would they fight? The thought of doing it all with their hair in big, sexy updos excited her endlessly.

But then again, maybe there would be no journey after all, and the five of them would continue life as normal… except for their hair, of course. Even if that were the case, though, she still wondered what others at school would think of it.

* * *

The brunette eventually emerged from the bathroom, clad in nothing except a tiger-striped bikini, a matching pair of go-go boots, and a pair of tiny oni horns. Her birthday, her house, why the hell not!

Needless to say, everyone was taken aback. Walking around almost naked like that while having a swim was one thing, but this was totally something else!

"Decided to cosplay as Lum!?" asked Junko, while Rin drew her cell phone out and started video-recording her in all her sexy glory.

"Lookin' hot!" said Mondo, giving a thumbs-up.

"Now all we need is to get that hair out of the way, and you could show off your butt, too!" said Rin.

The birthday girl scratched the back of her head, blushing while hearing her friends continue to comment on her state of undress.

* * *

Rokuna found herself in total heaven as she sat on her bed surrounded by her friends. Chitose was in the kitchen making dinner, but Rin and Junko were each giving one of her feet a massage while Mondo rubbed her shoulders.

"Rub harder, guys!" she said happily, before sighing heavily in pleasure. "Yeah, that feels good…! Keep at it…!"

She sat in silent pleasure, breathing relaxedly with her eyes closed while they continued the treatment, but eventually got up.

"That felt really good!" she said. "Thank you all so much!"

"Of course," said Rin.

"We all love to make you happy," said Junko.

"In that case, maybe you could paint my toenails and fingernails," said the brunette. "Wanna?"

"Sure! Mind telling us where it is?" asked Rin.

* * *

"Everything's ready," shouted Chitose, while the others were now busy taking pictures of Rokuna posing sexy. Rin folded her phone back up, and all of them headed to the dining room to eat.

* * *

Before her and her friends were laid out an assortment of Italian-style pasta, with garlic bread to boot. The brunette took a wholesome whiff of the savory air filling the room as they made their way over.

"Wow!" she exclaimed, pressing her wrists to her chin as she sat down. "Chii-chan, whatever this all is, it sure smells yummy!"

"I sure can't wait to take a bite out of that stuff!" said Rin.

"My mouth is watering right about now," said Junko.

"Bet you wish your noses were real big," joked Mondo, eliciting a light jab from Rokuna.

"Be sure to give me some credit, will ya!?" said Ichirobei. "I did buy all the ingredients for her to use."

Rokuna, Rin, Junko, and Mondo each thanked Ichirobei and Chitose for their contribution, before Chitose began serving everyone, starting with Rokuna.

Everyone took their first few bites before Rokuna continued speaking.

"If this is what people eat in Italy, then I totally hope we go there sometime!" she said.

"You said it, Ro!" said Mondo.

* * *

Chitose and Ichirobei waited for roughly fifteen minutes after everyone was done eating dinner, before getting up to turn off all the lights and going into the kitchen for a moment

No sooner had they returned, Chitose carrying a chocolate-chip-covered cheesecake, did everyone sing Happy Birthday in slow-motion to Rokuna, with Ichirobei adding "cha-cha-cha!" between each line. The cake was placed before the brunette, and she blew out the candles, eliciting applause from everyone. She excused herself to turn the lights back on and to get a carton of milk and glasses for everyone.

She filled her own glass last, before cutting the cake up to pass around. Everyone savored each bite of the delicious treat, some taking seconds, and then came time for presents.

Rin got first dibs on presenting the first gift to her brown-haired friend, before getting her cell phone ready to start recording everything. Inside the white-wrapped box presented to Rokuna were some clothes consisting of a light-pink dress, a pair of dark-pink sneakers, a plastic pink flower for her hair, and two bracelets consisting of a few plastic pink balls. The skirt part of the dress was frilled, and the sleeves were short and puffy. The top half of the skirt was a dark shade of pink matching the sneakers that came with it.

She momentarily left the room to change into this outfit. When she came back, everyone gasped.

"Moeeeee!" shouted Junko.

"You look so wonderful," said Chitose

"You go, girl!" said Mondo.

"How's it feel?" asked Rin.

"N-nice," said Rokuna, averting her gaze slightly while scratching the back of her head. "Th... thanks."

Mondo was next. Inside the box he presented was...

"A boomerang!" squealed the birthday girl. "Thanks, Mon-chan! I could totally use a backup weapon of some kind!"

"No prob," said her boyfriend.

Next present was from Junko. Inside was a combined sum of one million yen worth of various foreign currencies. These included euros, since they were used by multiple European countries, and those currencies used by the largest and most probable countries she and her friends would visit along the way, including United States dollars, Canadian dollars, Mexican pesos, Russian rubles, and Chinese yuan.

"Thanks, Jun-chan!" said Rokuna.

"Don't be too afraid to run out," said Ichirobei. "You can always exchange for some more if you need too, as long as you spend your money wisely."

Chitose was next. Inside her present was a new, pink cell phone with a plastic gachapon keychain of Madoka Kaname attached. Rokuna gasped in awe at the attachment.

"This is so adorable! Thanks, Chii-chan!" said Rokuna.

"My family is covering the data plan," said the orange-haired girl. "We will need this in order to call people from abroad."

"You guys totally put some thought into all this!" said the brunette.

"And, last but not least:" said Ichirobei, before handing one, final gift to his daughter.

Inside was a red velvet case divided on the inside into twelve squares. Each square contained a colored, oval-shape gemstone, except for two of them. One of the remaining squares was empty, and the other contained a tannish-white, spherical gemstone, evidently a pearl.

Having already studied their powers for years with her father, she picked up a green gemstone. It glowed and levitated out of her fingers and above her head. She got up from her seat, removing the flower to allow her hair to rise up and wrap around the stone. In one fluid motion the gem molded her hair into a large, oval-shaped beehive.

"Congratulations!" shouted Rin as everyone else applauded. Rokuna once again felt awkward, and averted her gaze while scratching the back of her head.

She sat back down and closed the case as soon as the clapping subsided, before proceeding to speak.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, let's decide who gets next dibs with rock-paper-scissors."

The other girls agreed.

While the girls recited "Jan, ken, bon!", Ichirobei and Mondo noticed a faint ripple emanate from the box, but dismissed it at first.

Rin and Junko each drew Scissors, while Chitose drew Paper.

"Chii-chan's last!" said Rokuna. "Again!"

Two more rounds between the former two resulted in a Scissors-tie, and then Rin winning with Rock. The case was passed to the braided girl, only for her to discover that the stones were gone.

"What happened!?" she asked.

"That's weird," said Rokuna.

"They must have gone off to find different candidates," said Ichirobei.

"But we all have long hair, don't we?" asked Rin.

"These gemstones are actually quite unpredictable. Even after nearly a whole century's worth of research starting with my grandfather, I still don't know what traits besides hair length the Magé Stones look for in a potential host. For all I know, they might have gone away even _before_ Rokuna opened the case, and even Rokuna knew that."

"I guess that means we can't come with you, doesn't it..." murmured Rin, lowering her head.

"Actually, it is possible that I _won't_ have to leave after all," said Rokuna.

"What!?" replied her friends.

"What the hell were you training this whole time for!?" asked Mondo.

"Because the aliens might come back, or they might not. In case they do, I happen to be the first of my grandparents' descendants who can weild one of the Magé Stones."

"If they do, you'll be sure to bring me with you, right?" asked Rin.

The brunette didn't know how to answer. The two of them shared a sister-like bond, due to Rokuna seeing Rin's younger brothers as brother-figures of her own. It would hurt her to say no, but if she were to go on a journey that would involve fighting psionics-weilding aliens, then she would not be able to afford any dead weight.

"I can't promise anything, but let's see if the time ever comes, okay?"

Little did she realize just how quickly that time would come.

* * *

The following morning, Rokuna was full of more energy than ever as she got ready for school, looking forward to hearing what others at school would think of her new hairstyle. Admittedly, though, she did wonder if she'd still be allowed at school, given how much she'd stand out with her hair the way it now was.

The reactions were mixed, ranging from stares and snickers to impressed compliments. Her teachers didn't make much of a fuss over her hair, and allowed her to remain in class.

Her biggest problem was with kendo. Namely, being able to wear the men, which covered her entire head save for the back. The way her hair was positioned was not conducive at all to wearing such a tight helmet, and she couldn't just push it backwards either. Continuing to participate without the helmet would be both embarrassing and dangerous, so she had only one option left.

_"Mon-chan,"_ she said telepathically from the girls' locker room. _"Please tell Shigeno-sensei that I need to drop out. I'd tell him myself, but I don't want to seem like I care more about my hair than this."_

Upon coming home and having her bath, she checked her emails, and found one titled _Bad hair day today?_,from someone named Kagami Hiiragi. She gasped in excitement before reading it.

_Has anyone besides me had their hair piled on top of their head today? I know two friends of mine have, and I'd like to know more about it if anyone knows someone who's had their hair somehow restyled._

"Dad!" yelled the girl, after replying to the message. "I just heard from Gami-chan! Your cousin's daughter!"

"Kagami!?" replied Ichirobei.

* * *

Late that night, the phone rang, and the girl moaned as she woke up to it.

_"Who could possibly be calling at this time of night,"_ she thought as she trudged in stupor to answer it. It rang a few more times before she finally reached it.

"Who is this...?" she murmured.

"Rokuna, is that you?" said none other than the girl named Kagami.

"Gami-chan?" replied Rokuna.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"I know."

"Anyway, the other two are both here, and you're the only other person who's gotten back to me so far. Something really bad just happened back at home, and we need to know as much as possible ASAP!"

"Guess I shouldn't be surprised. Let's all meet up at my house, okay?"

"Sure."

"Make sure you bring a weapon of some kind. It's gonna be dangerous."

"Right! See ya!"

At that point, Ichirobei, clad in his bathrobe, had made his way into the room, but Kagami had already hung up right then.

"Rokuna?" the man asked. "Who's on the phone?"

"That was Gami-chan," answered the girl. "She says something bad happened at her house, so I invited her and her friends here.

* * *

As Rokuna and Ichirobei awaited Kagami and co., the phone rang a second time. Once again, Rokuna was the first to answer it.

"Rokuna!" said Kagami across the line. "Let's meet up at that hill in the woods. Something was outside Konata's house, and we just had to leave."

"No problem!" replied the brunette, before her cousin hung up.

She knew exactly the hill in question. It was one in a wooded part of Satte, where she had been with Kagami and her sisters when she was eight. There weren't that many hills in Saitama Prefecture either, so she would have no trouble locating it once again.

And so, she changed not into the pink dress that Rin had given her the previous night, lest it get ruined in battle, but into a yellow shirt and a red skirt. She then picked up her bokken, her boomerang, her cell phone, and a flashlight, bid her father goodbye, and set off to meet with her cousin.

This was it! Not a day too soon had she been allowed to become one with a Magé Stone, and now was the beginning of an epic journey. She was raring to go, to make new friends, see the world, and take said world on!

* * *

The woods were silent, and lit only by the moon and stars. Staying alert, Rokuna held the bokken in her right hand, and the flashlight in her left. She knew that even with a sixth sense with which to navigate a safe path, she was bound to run into trouble.

The first enemy she came across was a foot-long centipede, which reared up, jaws snatching at her. The girl made short work of it with just one swing of her sword, but then found herself surrounded by other manner of enemies. A red, white-spotted mushroom with leg-like roots unleashed spores onto the girl, bats swooped down from above and sunk their tiny teeth into her, preying mantes jumped on her and cut into her clothes, and she was just barely able to cut a snake in half that also nearly pounced her. Mice, spiders, and four-legged ant-like creatures also climbed into her legs and bit away at her, and a mole took to throwing rocks at her.

Skilled as she may have been, the mushroom's spores really managed to disorient her, and the enemies around her were too small to hit with her sword. Next thing she knew, down came a crow wearing a bowtie and sunglasses, delivering a sharp peck at her skull and knocking the girl down. The nasties were all over her within seconds, tearing away at her clothing and flesh. The poor girl screamed, thinking she was going to die.

With all her might, she got up and made a run for it, leaving the flashlight behind while clutching the bokken with both hands.

* * *

By the time she lost them all and had rid herself of everything remaining on her, she was bleeding everywhere. She was in such pain that she couldn't help but whimper while cringing and clutching her breasts, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. If this went on for much longer, she would totally be done for.

She took a moment or two to regain her composure, and then closed her eyes softly and putting her hands together.

"P. K. Healing. Alpha."

A green glow formed at her hands as she recited the words, and then enveloped her whole body before subsiding. The girl felt relieved as all the wounds closed up... and she also noticed her clothes no longer torn or bloodied.

_Look at that, _she thought. _Guess that means I don't have to worry about getting that dress ruined that Rin-chan gave me._

* * *

Back at Rokuna's house, Ichirobei was having some coffee to remain awake upon hearing someone knock at the door. Five people were there, four of whom he knew well enough. One of them was his cousin Tadao, three others were Tadao's wife, Miki, and two of his daughters, Matsuri and Inori. The remaining one was a pre-teenage-looking girl with short salmon-colored hair. All of them were clad in their bedwear, and had serious looks on their faces.

"Tada-niisan," said Ichirobei. "Been a while, hasn't it!"

"It has," replied Tadao.

"And who's this young lady here?" asked Ichirobei, kneeling down to face the red-haired girl and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm Yutaka Kobayakawa," said the girl.

"We've actually only met her tonight," said Inori. "We can explain how she got mixed into this."

"Miki, would you be honored?" suggested Tadao. "I'll go call our daughters and Soujiro-san."

* * *

Rokuna eventually made her way to the hill where she agreed to meet with Kagami. Up on top, she found a tree to rest up against, and placed the bokken to her side as she waited.

With her sixth sense, she could tell exactly how much longer she could expect to wait until her cousin would arrive.

Eventually, the lilac-haired girl arrived, along with her twin sister Tsukasa and the two friends of theirs that she had mentioned on the phone earlier on. All of them were clad in their pajamas, except for a particularly short blue-haired girl with emerald-green eyes like her own. The remaining girl was slightly taller than any of them, with pink hair and amethyst-purple eyes.

"You guys look beat," said Rokuna, as she picked her bokken up and got up. "Let me fix you up."

She extended her hand towards the other girls, and recited the same spell that she had used on herself earlier.

"That's not gonna have any weird side effects, is it?" asked Kagami.

"Don't worry, it won't," said the brunette.

"Thanks."

"Anyway, it's been a while since we met. Kasa-chan, how have you been?"

"Everything was fine until tonight," said Tsukasa.

"These are our friends, Konata and Miyuki," said Kagami. "We've actually been friends since the beginning of high school."

"Hi," said the blue-haired girl. "I'm Konata Izumi. Nice to meetcha."

"My name is Miyuki Takara," said the pink-haired girl. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Rokuna Hiiragi," returned the brunette. "Nice to meet you guys."

"So anyway," said Kagami. "What _is _the deal with these stones, our hair, and everything that's happened tonight, and how did you manage to heal us up like that?"

"From what Dad told me, there are actually supposed to be twelve of those altogether. They're supposed to let you use some weird powers, but they require really long hair in order to take a host."

"So what's been causing stuff to attack us?"

"Actually, you were being targeted because of them. According to Dad, this is just the beginning of an alien invasion from a distant planet, and the gemstones are what will help us fight back."

"Just as I thought, in a way."

"So, how do we know what we are capable of," asked Miyuki.

"You just kinda realize it subconsciously," said Rokuna. "Dad should know more about it, so let's go to my house and ask him."

* * *

Amid wreckage in an otherwise silent, unoccupied house, Pachelbel's Canon filled the air as a cell phone went off.

* * *

"Of course not," muttered Tadao, before dialing another number. This time, barely a second went by before he got through to someone.

"Tadao-san, is that you?" answered a man on the other end.

"Soujiro-san, has anything happened since I left?"

"Everything's been fine so far. No one's come back yet, though."

"Glad to hear at least you and Yui-san are okay. We'll be sure to bring Yutaka-chan home tomorrow if nothing else happens. Could you please give me Konata-chan's cell phone number?"

* * *

Coming back down the hill and out of the woods, there were no more random battles... until a silver light shot out from the sky, materializing into something metallic and humanoid, with tentacles for arms, some buttons on the right half of its chest, and a visor where its face should have been.

**"Everyone, spread out!" **shouted Rokuna, before darting past the Starman Jr. She ran for several yards, making sure their enemy wasn't right behind her before turning around to observe everyone's positions.

Despite being metallic, it was able to walk with ease, and turned out to be pursuing Konata. The other three were in all different positions away from either of them or herself, and Miyuki had even managed to run head-on into a tree. Mikuru Beam had gone off in Kagami's pajama pocket, but that obviously didn't matter right now, not in such a frantic situation as they were in.

**"Keep moving!" **she shouted to Konata, who instead dove to the ground as the alien fired a pink, foot-thick laser at her from the tip of its arm, which missed but did manage to collapse any trees in its path. Kagami extended her own hand at the fiend, producing a wave of fire that set numerous trees ablaze and engulfed the enemy within... or so it seemed, until it re-materialized behind the lavender-haired girl.

* * *

"We just kept running until we were too tired," said Miki as she explained her family's situation to Ichirobei. "Next thing I know, everyone was gone except for my older daughters and Yutaka-chan, but then Tadao spotted us from inside the car and picked us up."

No sooner than she finished her explanation of events had Tadao returned with his cousin's phone.

"Tada-niisan," said Ichirobei. "Sounds like you had a rough night-"

"Call your daughter!" ordered Tadao, handing his cousin the phone.

A moment of silence went by as everyone's hearts sunk.

"Don't tell me you don't know your own daughter's cell number!"

"Damn! Should've asked when she got her new one-"

Miki immediately burst into tears before he got to finish speaking. Matsuri embraced her, and she returned the hug.

"YOU- AAAAGGHH!" shouted Tadao as he tried to approach Ichirobei, only to collapse onto the floor in some kind of pain instead. Inori rushed over to hold him steady as he clutched his back.

"Are you okay!?" asked Inori, kneeling down by her father.

* * *

**"Behind you!" **shouted Konata. Too late, as it was already enraged and gave her friend a whack across the skull with its metal tentacle, knocking her to the side a few feet away.

Extending their right hands upward and forward respectively, Konata and Miyuki created a bolt of lightning and a blast of arctic air right at the alien, causing its body to melt and crack up at the same time. Tsukasa helped Kagami back up just in time to avoid being crushed under the collapsing body.

Upon confirming everyone's safety, she came over to the fallen Starman Jr. and drew her cell phone out to snap a picture, before calling the fire department to deal with the still-raging inferno that Kagami had started.

"That's exactly what I sensed outside of Izumi-san's house," said Miyuki, after Rokuna finished the call.

"Must've been desperate to try to kill us itself," replied Rokuna.

"You think that thing was responsible for what happened back at our house?" asked Kagami, still rubbing her head in pain.

"If it was, then I guess we're safe for now," said Rokuna. "I can't seem to sense any more around here. Anyway, don't rely on psionics_ too _much. You can only use it so much each day, and the most common way to use more of it is to find a magic butterfly, but even they don't recover that much."

"Magic butterfly?" the other girls said, almost in unison.

"Oh, they exist, but only psychics can tell them apart from normal ones."

* * *

As the group made its way back to her house, Rokuna mused about these initial experiences she had just had. Even though she _had _lost her first battle upon leaving home, such did not make her any less enthused about stuff yet to come. Of course it was gonna be rough, and that she would experience defeat every now and then no matter how hard she fought.

As the self-appointed leader of the group since meeting with them, she surely found it ironic that she didn't even guide them all battle long. Even though they never had reason to assume they would ever fight, the way they functioned as a team in the face of danger, with or without her actually doing anything, really made her all the more optimistic. Even Tsukasa, despite lacking viability for a Magé Stone, had proven herself useful in her own way.

Actually, it was a good thing Tsukasa _wasn't_ a viable candidate for one of the gemstones. Rokuna knew that having a sixth sense had both good points and bad, and they would need someone to stay strong for them whenever their sixth senses worked against them. Even though she knew how weak-willed Tsukasa actually was in general, time was bound to bring out the best of her.

Even though her own friends wouldn't be able to come for the ride, she was totally glad to be seeing two of her indirect relatives for what would become long enough to form bonds with, as well as making two more, completely new friends altogether. Only time would tell where they would go and whom they'd make friends with together from here on.

* * *

**And now, go read Starbound!**


End file.
